UnBedazzled

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*note on buddha: since i'm using his name and giving no royalties...

...for the first time, i've bothered reading a tad into the imagery associated with buddha/buddhist art.

...and the thing I love most - that I always thought was some Vanity Smurf complex or tribal ID like in africa - has its own meaning as it turns out.

check out the buddha's droopy earlobes (I actually sung to 1 of the 100 buddhas I saw today <> but they didn't even crack a smile beyond their usual slightly amused look.

man, rock sculptures are a rough audience.

OK OK. so, the droopy lobes are reminders of the jewels buddha once wore in his lavish lifestyle before he threw them and all other comforts away to wander the earth as a simple man.

of course, buddha is famous for at first having gone total radical minimalist, thinking suffering was necessary to reach enlightenment, only to realize, the <> is more reasonable.

well, then, buddha, why not just a nosering? with a smidge of anaesthetic?
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soooo readers, howsabout adorning yourselves with big crazy ear jewelry, but produced in fairtrade diamond mines? sometimes crossing the street in the middle is a wise thing...

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flower power
loti? lotuses? lotici? purples and pinks and white...hawkers often line the steps - which always seem to be involved - in reaching some sort of buddha worshipping place...

reclining my...
commonly known as Reclining Buddha, i think of him more as Lazy Buddha. i'd like to lie down, too, after all the elevations i've achieved to see this guy, and his supposed body parts and imprints scattered all over the island

now this one...
i call Smirking Buddha. check out the broad with the sexy i've-got-a-pot-balancing-on-my-head stance.

buddha blick
often i find the view is just as lovely as the temples...

rock me amadeus
impressively carved rock sculptures, in caves that have been dated back to prehistory. tell me, why don't we operate on B.B. instead of B.C.?

you say it's your birthday
nah nah nah nah nah nah nah.
poor Buddha. all he gets is some of these banner-like things strung up. no cake. oh, right, and nation-wide celebrations ONCE A MONTH of his birth. it's my favorite part about sri lanka. outside of banana mush.

cavities
they say buddha tooth is in here. i didn't pay the 15 bucks to find out. the ambience was more in the crowd. and the sacredness of the place. and the little side temples the locals use. oh, and the security guards who frisked me.

buddha bulge
a bit of inflation. claiming to be the world's highest buddha statue. it's not even the highest in sri lanka. striking tho, i give them that.

ok, ok
here's an egg hopper. FYI.